8 January, 2010

I think I’ve met her at one or two STC meetings and remember her as being rather quiet. Looking back, that strikes me as ominous.

She was involved with the tech pubs/online help competition one year, but I’m not sure if she entered or judged.

A friend told me that Karen died suddenly in November and has left two orphaned cats. My friend said that Karen had simply collapsed one day.

BLACK, Karen Elizabeth – Suddenly at her home in Toronto on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at the age of 53. Karen is survived by her loving mother Elizabeth Black and her two caring brothers Douglas and David. According to Karen’s wishes, cremation has taken place and a service will be held in her honour in her hometown of Waterloo, Québec, at a later date.

There are a few Karen Blacks in Google. I don’t know if she was the Business Analyst or the Curator, but she was probably the Freelance Writer and definitely not the Actress. If she was a member, there will probably be a short notice in the STC Toronto blog.

And if you might want to adopt a pair of cats, leave me a note in the comments.

9 May, 2009

The Wikiback effect was discovered in a clever test to see how much hasty reporters depend on Wikipedia for their material. The Columbia Journalism Review reports that a Shane Fitzgerald, a student at University College Dublin, experimentally inserted some fake quotations into Wikipedia. He chose the article about a French Composer, Maurice Jarre, on hearing of Jarre’s recent death. The Guardian picked up three quotations.

Fitzgerald wrote in the Irish Times this week that he was shocked to see his quotes used by so many reputable news organizations. “Quality newspapers in England, India, America and as far away as Australia had my words in their reports of Jarre’s death,” he wrote.

Craig Silverman says

The Wikiback Effect is when errors contained in Wikipedia entries serve to expose the laziness and fallibility of professional journalists. Basically, if you’re a journalist and you crib from Wikipedia, it will get you back.